Closure
by 9r7g5h
Summary: She had to find her, so she could end this.


**AN:** An Anon on tumblr asked if I was taking fic requests for this couple. They weren't specific in what they wanted, though, so I quickly whipped this up as a warning- if you request a fic from me and aren't specific in what you want, I respond with angst. All the angst. Because why not?

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Helix. Sci-fy does.

* * *

It was the remains of the lab where they first worked together that they finally found themselves at, the wood rotten and the metal warped, the glass dusted almost gray from the years of disuse and ash. Snow had covered most of the familiar landmarks, but somehow this room had remained safe. Safe and mostly intact, somehow surviving the explosion that had turned the rest of the Artic base into a twisted mess of metal and lost bones.

They were freezing, bundled in dozens of lairs to keep their skin from freezing, but still they recognized each other.

Even after two hundred years, how could they not?

It was Julia who made the first move, motioning for Sarah to follow her, follow her out of the lab and back out into the open air, where a trailer sat a dozen yards away. It was a calm walk- there hadn't been a storm for at least a dozen years, ever since the winds had stopped and the temperature dropped, leaving only a light, almost continuous snowfall that quickly covered their footsteps behind them.

Neither talked- to remove the lairs covering their faces to speak would have been death, even to them. There would time for it later, when the elements no longer proved a danger.

"Why are you here, Sarah?"

They had barely entered the trailer when Julia spoke, her coverings shifted just enough for her to be heard. She didn't bother to strip- only stared at Sarah through her goggles, her hand on the doorknob, ready to return to the cold if her answer proved unsatisfactory.

Sarah just shrugged and started to remove her jacket, sighing as layer after layer fell to the ground, eventually leaving her in just a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt, enough for the semi-comfortable heat of the trailer. Piling her clothes in the corner of the room, she sat down at the only chair in the makeshift home Julia had made for herself, nodding towards the kitchenette.

"Make me some tea and I'll tell you."

It took a few moments for Julia to comply, her unreadable gaze locked upon Sarah's face, studying her, before finally letting her hand fall to her side, the other reaching over to pull off the thick, sturdy glove. Walking over to the kitchenette, she placed a kettle on the single burner she had available to her before turning back to Sarah, pushing the goggles up to rest on her forehead so she could see.

It felt good to see those eyes again, even after so long apart.

"If you're here to bring me back, Sarah," Julia said slowly into the silence that fell, only interrupted by the soft roll of the water heating up, "then it'd be better for both of us if you drink your tea and leave."

"Jules," Sarah sighed, holding out her left hand-a plea, perhaps, though neither were sure for what-towards the other woman. When Julia didn't take it, Sarah shifted it so the ring she wore was visible to both, the five hundred year old gold showing the wear and tear it had gone through since Julia herself had slipped it on. "All I want to know is why you won't come home with me."

They both knew why, knew why Julia had run all those years ago, but even without a bit of doubt within Sarah's mind, she still wanted to hear it. Wanted to actually hear her say the words instead of guessing at her reasons.

Sarah wanted to hear her say their son's name, hear her rant and rave and cry and curse and everything else a grieving mother should, just so they could finally be on the same page.

"He could have had forever, Sarah," Julia said levelly, pulling the kettle off of the burner as it started to whistle. Her hands betrayed her, though, as she poured- splashes of steaming water covered the counter by the time she had filled the two cups she had retrieved from the sink, the tea bags seeping. "Lucas _should_ have had forever, but I fucked up and took that away from him."

She visibly sagged against the counter, one hand rubbing at her eyes while the other supported her, the only thing that seemed to keep her standing. When she picked up her mug, she could barely keep it steady long enough to take a drink, her body shaking despite the layers she still had on.

"Why are you here, Sarah?"

When Sarah stood, her lips pulled into a frown from the absolute exhaustion within Julia's voice, she didn't speak. Instead, all she did was step forward and draw Julia into a hug, resting her head under Julia's chin.

"You tried, Julia. You tried to save him. You just…couldn't. And if I have to mourn my son, I would rather do it with the woman I love than alone."

She didn't move when Julia's form started shaking, didn't flinch when the tears dripped onto the top of her head, only wrapped her arms closer around the woman she'd loved for the last five hundred years and been looking for for the last two, all so they could have this moment.

All so they could have the closure they needed.

The next morning the two left-not to go home, where old wounds were still open and raw, but to somewhere new. Where, even if they couldn't start over, they could at least find some peace together.


End file.
